Department offering reduced-cost vaccinationsHealth

BY JOHN L. GUERRA

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

No one argues that Ebola is a nightmare disease but American doctors and health experts worry much more about the number of Americans influenza will claim in a given year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 9,632 hospitalizations related to influenza in 2013; deaths during last flu season hovered around 6 percent but luckily “remained below the epidemic threshold of 6.8 percent death rate,” the CDC reported.

Alison Morales of the Monroe County Health Department has a few more reasons why Keys residents ought to get their flu shots, which are free if you qualify. They are offering free and reduced price immunization for Keys residents interested in not getting throat cancer or other diseases linked to bacteria and viruses.

Flu cases rise between October and May, and flu vaccinations in past years have reduced flu-related pediatric intensive care admissions by as much as 74 percent. The shot reduced flu-related hospitalizations among adults older than 50 by 77 percent.

Thanks to a $226,000 county grant, low-income and uninsured residents can get other immunizations free or at reduced rates, Morales said. Immunizations include human papillomavirus (HPV), influenza, and tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (TDaP).

The shots can be expensive for those who have to pay full price. The (HPV) shot, for instance, costs as much as $600, Morales said. “Anyone at 400 percent of the federal poverty line or lower who is uninsured or underinsured is eligible,” she said. Call 305-809-5653 to schedule any of these vaccinations at locations across the Keys.

Here’s what the shots are designed to prevent:

  • HPV is very common and is transmitted through sex. Thirteen types can lead to cervical cancer. Some 80 percent of all sexually active people have it and most don’t know it. It is linked to uncommon cancers of the penis, head, anus and neck.
  • Tetanus is a serious bacterial disease that affects the nervous system, leading to muscle contractions, especially around the neck and jaw. It can interfere with one’s ability to breathe and threaten one’s life. Lockjaw is what kids are warned about when they step on a nail. Lots of bacteria in the Keys.
  • Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract infection caused by bacteria. It is characterized by fever and a pseudo-membrane that grows on the tonsils, throat, pharynx, and nasal cavity. It creates myocarditis and peripheral myopathy. Perhaps Stephen King had this in mind for his novel, The Stand. Like the disease that wipes out most of mankind, Diphtheria causes bull neck, the impossibly large swelling of the neck and glands.
  • Pertussis also is known as whooping cough, the uninterrupted coughing that kills infants. Because they can’t catch their breath, they sometimes pass out and die from lack of oxygen. “Antibiotics will not stop the course of disease,” Morales said. “It can, however, decrease contagiousness.” Babies are too young to be vaccinated, so hospital workers, adults and the mother must be vaccinated so they don’t pass it on to the new baby, Morales said. Some 80 percent of the cases in babies are passed from adults.

The Health Department also has a walk-in flu clinic at Roosevelt Sands Center in Bahama Village every Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The center is at 105 Olivia St. The phone number is 305-809-5680.

 

 

 

 

 

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